Moose and Deer, Oh My!

Monday's Storytime theme was "Antler Antics" and we sang "m-o-o-s-e" (Tune of "Bingo") and danced the "Loosie Moosey" (an idea I discovered on Karma Wilson's website). A "Five Little Deer" fingerplay and two other moose fingerplays/rhymes, filled in nicely between four books and a flannelboard. For a craft we made traced-hand antler head bands. I brought Maurice the moose puppet who welcomed the kids, and talked to both parents and the kids during craft time. Big hit.

Here are the "Antler Antics" books:
Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit by Catherine Rayner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book! Ernest the moose never gives up...and has a good friend who supports and helps him. It is an imaginative book, with great drawings of Ernest - or parts of him, anyway - as he tries desperately to fit on a page. The kids love all the silly sounds and seeing only part of Ernest - and the ending is very dramatic and is guaranteed to bring a smile to everyone in the storytime audience.

Moose Tracks! by Karma Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a mystery/guessing game with humor and rhyming text and great pictures. Who made all the moose tracks that are all over the house? The narrator tells us about a series of visits from friends, and the variety of things they leave behind, things that he remembers ("Bear hair" and "nutshells") but always ends with the refrain, "but WHO left all these moose tracks?" The kids really got into this book, They laughed at all the mess, marveled at all the interesting friends that our narrator invites over. They also noticed all sorts of great detail in the pictures...a frog catching a fly in the background or the frog taking a bath in the sink. The kids did eventually guess - after a few hints...

Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones by Gene Barretta

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a wonderfully playful and imaginative book. After reading it, one will never again forget what a homophone might be! Aunt Ant, is writing a letter to her friend, Deer, about her new life at a zoo. Of course, she begins the letter "Dear Deer." The illustrations are wonderful and the the kids loved this book. I worried that it might not work as a read-aloud since it sounds like the reader is stuttering when reading about a fox that "blew blue bubbles." The pictures give the text more than enough context, and some of the pages come across as tongue twisters. My favorite was the Ewe who has "Been in a daze for days" and then Deer writes his response to Aunt Ant....

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you give a moose a muffin...be prepared for a lot of work. This is a charming book. I actually kept the book handy, but told the tale as a flannelboard. The text was simple enough that with the flannel pieces in hand to cue the order, I could get by without reading it. All moose wants is a muffin...and then a bit of jam...and suddenly the living room has become an artist studio/puppet theater...filled with humor and wonderfully engaging illustrations, this story was a hit with my storytime audience.

Making the Moose Out of Life by Nicholas Oldland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The audience enjoyed this book much more than I thought they would and even the youngest in the audience seemed to understand and enjoy the humor. A very timid moose, who doesn't like rain or wind or cold, finds himself thrust into an adventure, which changes him. They understood that in order to enjoy life, moose needs to make the most out of everyday and embrace life fully...which he does with great - and hysterically funny - abandon.